Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen will donate $30 million each to the Motion Picture & Television Fund's capital campaign, the Hollywood nonprofit said Tuesday.
The three are co-founders of DreamWorks SKG, the studio behind "Gladiator" and "Saving Private Ryan."
All three men have been past supported of the fund and Katzenberg serves as MPTF Foundation chairman.
Their total commitment of $90 million will go a long way toward helping the MPTF reach its $350 million fundraising goal, which the nonprofit will use to build its endowment and support its work providing services and financial assistance to entertainment-industry members in need.
"It becomes very personal when someone you know or have worked with is cared for at 'the Home' or a crew member is helped financially by MPTF," Spielberg said in a statement. "The mission 'we take care of our own' is suddenly very real and tangible, and so this new donation is an extension of what we have been doing for a number of years to support that mission."
Added Katzenberg: "Marilyn and I are so happy to join together with my partners and friends, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, to support our industry's most important and valuable charitable organization. Hopefully, with this gift, the MPTF will get even closer to reaching its ambitious goal for its endowment campaign."
The three entertainment moguls are not the only industry figures to write big checks to the MPTF. Among those donating have been actor Kirk Douglas and his wife, Anne, who pledged $20 million to the organization; media mogul Barry Diller, who donated $30 million; and producer Steve Bing, who donated $30 million. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has contributed $20 million.
The fundraising drive comes after a tumultuous period in the MPTF's history. A controversial decision to close the MPTF's long-term-care facility and hospital in 2009 led to nearly three years of protests. In the end, a grassroots campaign led by patients and their families persuaded the MPTF's leadership to drop its original plan and keep those facilities open.
In January, the MPTF bowed to pressure and announced it would begin accepting new residents for the first time since it announced plans to close the facility in 2009.
